On behalf of the Institute of Inter...

On behalf of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), I'm pleased to announce that May has been declared "Internal Auditor Awareness Month" by way of the City of Vancouver in recognition of the contributions made according to internal auditors in meeting the challenges prevalent in todays business realm.

Internal auditing today

Global competition, downsizing, re-engineering, the security risks of advanced technologies, and the weights of the economy are just a not many of the factors creating strange challenges for auditors. Internal auditors must now also consider orders efficiency and compliance with of recent origin regulatory and legal initiatives as it is as privacy legislation in Canada and SEC regulations arising from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US.

We've accorded to these challenges by making recommendations to increase operational efficiency and minimize risk, and from applying our systematic and disciplined approach primarily to the following three areas:

Risk management

First, each organization is affected by risk. Risk impacts the organization's ability to achieve its objectives, and to maintain its financial force and the quality of its proceedss and services. It is the internal auditor's work at jobs to identify all relevant risk factors, and to assess their significance and the organization's ability to address them.

"There is a greater emphasis placed upon the internal auditor's role in raising awareness of risk," says Sheila Smigarowski, CA-CIA, internal audit manager with commonaltys Trust Company. "By focusing forward an effective risk management program, the internal auditor not single offers remedies for mitigating existing risks if it were not that also anticipates problems and plays an important part in protecting the organization from catastrophes or missed opportunities in the future"

Cost-effective control

Second internal auditors evaluate the effectiveness of regulates relative to the achievement of strategic objectives. Internal auditors take a broad view of internal superintendence that includes business strategy and direction, ethical values, consistency in meeting goals, performance measures, and a great deal more. Frameworks such as COSO (US), COCO (Canada), and Cadbury (UK) provide guidelines for effective internal have the direction of implementation and monitoring.

Today, a broad array of lucky internal control practices is available for practitioners who want to stay upon the leading edge of the profession. Working alongside management to make organizational checks more effective, internal auditors use practices like rule self-assessment (CSA) to identify gaps in restrain and offer cost-effective solutions to thwart disasters in the future.

"Modern internal auditing's part in internal control is essential," says Tina Jansen, CACIA, internal assurance manager with the Provincial Health Services Authority. "Working in collaboration with management and [i]clavis[/i] personnel, the internal audit function can be invaluable to each aspect of the organization."

Good corporate governance

Third, internal auditors always play a vital part in ensuring that public and private sector organizations are make subordinate to the most effective governance practices. In many cases, this involves working closely with senior management and the board to render certain the board's awareness of the organizations principal risks. In other cases, internal audit is directly involved in evolving governance processe of the like kind as ethics reporting and whistleblower protection.

"Because we are in a dynamic environmentwe have just discovered business lines, new people, strange technology, and a changing regulatory and legal environment-we ne to be real vigilant about the fundamentals of the business," says Ewan Wilding, CA-CIA, vicepresident of internal audit services with Intrawest Corporation. "That's a elucidation role for internal audit, and single that both senior management and the board appreciate."

Certifying Internal auditors

There are publicly more than 45,000 certified internal auditors (CIAs) worldwide.

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) propounds a CIA certification exam that considers the current state of the art in internal auditing and evaluates technical adequacy in important subject areas related to internal audit and management. Administered twice a year in several languages, the CIA exam will be given this month to from one side of to the other 20,000 candidates at 249 sites in 75 countries around the world.

The IIA also presents the Certification in Control Self Assessment (CCSA), Certified dominion Auditing Professional (CGAP), and Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA).

CICA National Specialization Council

The National Specialization Council freshly signed an exclusive Strategic Alignment and Accreditation Agreement with the IIA. in a less degree than this agreement, the CIA program is recognized as the specialist program for CAs working in internal audit. In addition, the CICA and the ILA are working together to enhance the profile of this already wellestablished designation in the marketplace.

For the more than 2000 CAs in Canada with a special interest in internal audit, specialist certification exhibits considerable benefits-chief among them a competitive sharpness in the marketplace. With its rigorous accreditation proces the CA-CIA designation attests to designees' specialty knowledge and experience.